Paper towel dispensing apparatus



Aug. 18, 1936. R. G. BIRR ET AL 2,051,242

PAPER TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 [n we nix? 81/004 PH 6 B/EE ALBERT C GEUNWALD W, Hfm

ATTORNE vs A 18, 36. S R. G. BIRR ET AL 2,05 ,242

PAPER TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Z I I l i l 1 fizz anion ,jUDOLP/ 5/22 LBEET EU/VWALD #76. 2

Aug. 18, 1936. R. G. BIRR El AL 2,051,242

PAPER TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 hmnom EupoLPfi 6. 8/212 ALBEETCGEUNWALD Aug. 18, 1936. R. e. BIRR ET AL PAPER TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m w t 1% h s C PT 2 m5 m AA a la Fwd, WW

Patented Aug. I8, 1936 UNITED STATES PAPER TOWEL msransmo APPARATUS Rudolph G. Birr, Lombard, and Albert C. Grunwald, River Forest, 111., assignors to Steiner Sales Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, a corporation of Utah Application April 8, 1935, Serial No. 15,273

10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in paper dispensing apparatus and has, among its objects, to provide improved means for severing paper toweling and delivering it for. access by the user, and for delaying the delivery of a next length of severed paper, thus making it necessary for the user to wait for some predetermined time period before he can obtain a second towel or length of toweling. By the practice of this invention, the number of towels used is substantially reduced and great economic gain is made.

Features of the invention include: the arrangement of the cutting and feeding mechanism above the paper roll supply compartment; the delivery of the severed length of toweling downwardly to have its lower edge accessible to the user at the lower portion of the cabinet; the specific severing mechanism; the provision of a stop mechanism for stopping the feeding and severing mechanisms at predetermined positions; the provision, in combination with other features, of a timer connected with the stop mechanism for annulling its action at the end of a predetermined time to permit another feeding and cutting operation; the details of construction of the arrangement of the severing means including means adapted to feed paper in a manner to bridge the peaks of corrugations to be punctured and cut by the teeth; the provision of paper friction disks for entraining and holding the paper taut to be operated on by the severing means; and all details of construction, along with the broader ideas of means inherent in the disclosure.

Objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description of the drawings forming a part of this application, and in said drawings Figure l is a transverse vertical section taken approximately on' line l-l of Figure 2, but with the toothed element and its support positioned as after a severing operation; I

Figure 2 is a front elevation with part of the door broken away, and with the toothed element and its support in severing position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section on line 3--3 of Figure 2, with the parts positioned as at the end of a timing operation;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 5 showing the stop mechanism and timer as at the beginning of the timing operation, and showing in dot-and-dash lines that the timer is set before the stop'arm reaches stop position;

Figure 5 is a plan section on line 55 of Figure 3 illustrating the slide construction and mounting for slide stop;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section on line 6-6 of Figure 2 showing the gearing by which the feed and severing mechanisms are controlled and synchronized, and illustrating the means for backing off the stop arm to prevent interference 5 with timing, and with the parts positioned in correspondence to those of Figure 3; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view corresponding to Figure 6 illustrating the action of the backing up mechanism, during the cutting operation. 10

In the drawings, numeral l indicates the outer casing of a cabinet having a hollow door 2 suitably hinged as at 3 at the bottom of the casing I. The door is made hollow to provide a delivery passage 4 downwardly through which a severed 15 length of paper is delivered from the cutting mechanism through an opening 5. This opening is formed in the inner wall 6 of the hollow door and that part of the wall 6 which defines the lower edge of the opening is bent backwardly 20 as at I to guide the sheet into the passage 4. The inner edge is brought close to the periphery of the friction disks later to be described. The edge of part I is toothed, as at l, in correspondence to the teeth of the cutter blade, to provide 25 clearance for the blade as it swings past. That part of the side 6 forming the upper side of the opening 5 is bent inwardly as at 8 against a curved paper-guiding member 9, which is attached at its upper end as at It to the top wall 30 of the outer casing l. The guiding member 9 is spaced from and is substantially parallel with the periphery of friction disks.

The inner wall 6 at the bottom is bent inwardly as at l2 and spaced inwardly from the front edge l6, see Figure 2, so that a portion of the severed 40,

sheet I1 is visible and accessible from the front of the cabinet. Arranged within the hollow door, laterally, one at each side of the cutout l6, are spring clips It, the lower ends of which engage the inner surface of the outer plate l8 of the 45 door to yieldably arrest downward motion of the severed length of paper I! and hold it as shown in Figure 2, accessible for withdrawal by a user. A suitable lock 20 secures the door in closed position. The door can be swung to the dot-and-dash line position shown in Figure 1.

Arranged within the casing I is a U-shaped frame having its top portion 2| secured to the top wall H of the outer casing and having depending plate portions respectively indicated 22 end ofthisplate 55 terminates atone end "of the.

and 23, said portions being spaced inwardly from' the corresponding sides of the casing.

Suitably journaled in the plates 2223 is a cutter shaft 25 to which is attached a radial cutter blade support generally indicated at 26, see Figures 1 and 2. On this support is mounted the cutting, punching and tearing blade 21, secured by screws 26 and having a toothed outer edge 29. Mounted on the tubular part 90 of the support 26 are a series of disks 3| herein called friction disks, since their peripheries are roughened for acting on the paper to draw it and keep it taut. Each of these disks is radially slotted at 33 so that they may be properly introduced over and slid along the support 26, to the spaced relation shown in Figure 2. Each disk is held in spaced relation by a pair of brackets 22, see Figure 1, one arm of each bracket being attached to the disk by a fastening device 34 and the other arm being fastened to the support 26 by fastening device 95. The inner portion of the support 26 after passing around the shaft has a part as an extension, and these two parts are secured together by screws 36, thus clamping the support for mo-.

tion with the shaft.

The blade 21 is mountedon the support 26, and its teeth 29 cooperate with valleys of the corrugations of a corrugated member or plate 46 secured to the top wall of the casing, as best shown in Figures 1 and 2. The peripheries of the friction disks are spaced inwardly from the peaks of the corrugations to allow paper to pass between the peaks and disk peripheries, and the friction disks act to keep the paper taut as the cutter shaft disks and knife move in direction of the arrow. The paper bridges and is supported by the disks and is held in a mannerto bridge the peaks of the corrugations, to be punctured, cut and separated by the blade as it swings forwardly.

In this embodiment of the invention, the paper supply roll 50 is at the bottom of the cabinet and the feeding and cutting mechanism is at the top and this is a feature of the invention. Another feature consists in having the supply below, and fed upwardly, cut at the upper part of the cabinet and then fed and dropped downwardly to have its lower edge accessible to the user at the lower part of the cabinet.

To feed the paper from the roll to the cutting mechanism, a feed shaft 51 is provided and is journaled in the plates 22 and 23, and this shaft has a roll 52 having a suitable friction surface 53. Associated with this feed roll is an idler roll 54 journaled in slots 55, see also Figures 3 and 6, to move toward and away from the feed roll 52, the roll 56 being yieldably pressed toward the feed roll by spring means acting on the roll shaft, and generally indicated at 56 in Figures 3 and 6.

Guiding means is provided leading from theforward side of the rolls 52 and 54 upwardly to the friction discs and cutting mechanism, and this guiding means comprise spaced plates 5556. The lower end plate 55 stops Just short of roll 54' and is curved, and this plate has a relatively larger up;

per part curved on a radius having its center substantially in the axis of the shaft 30. The upper corrugated element 10 ofthe severing mechanism.

The other plate56'has its lower end stopping just short of the friction surface of the feed roll 52,

its upper endbeing curved like that of'the upper end of plate '55. The upper end of plate 56 lies below the upper end of the plate 55, and near' the peripheries of the friction disks. By this arrange ment of the upper ends of the plates,the sheetis directed into the angle 59, between the corrugated member 40' and the friction disks. Arranged below and spaced from the feed roll 52 and laterally of the roll 54 on the front side, is a plate 60 having that end nearest the door bent and curved as at 6| to form a smooth edge over which the paper is brought to be inserted between the feed rolls and glulliesd upwardly through the guide to the friction Referring to Figures 1 and 6: The cutting and feeding mechanism is controlled and synchronized by spur gears from a crank shaft 65, the crank of which is indicated at 66 in Figures 1 and 2. It will, of course, be understood that the synchronization is such as to cause the peripheral speed of the friction disks and cutter blade to be greater than the feeding speed of the fed material so that the paper is kept taut by the disks and so that the cutter will tear, as well as punch and cut.

Referring to Figure 6: A gear 61 is attached to the crank shaft 65 and meshes with the gear 68 on the feed roll shaft 5|, and with a gear 69 of the cutter shaft 25. The parts are so constructed that two rotations of the crankshaft 65 by the operator will feed suillcient paper to the cutter to supply the desired severed length. Two rotations of shaft 65 result in a single rotation of the cutter shaft so that the knife will start from and stop at a certain position, which is shown in Figure l. v

The feed roll shaft 5| has a ratchet wheel l and a pawl II for preventing reverse rotation of the shafts.- Stop 12 limits outward motion of the pawl II.

Means is provided to positively prevent operation of the feed and severing mechanisms after severing and delivering. This mechanism is referred to as the stop mechanism, and takes the place of the previously used push-button or lever controlled stop means heretofore provided and requiring manual-operation to release the feed roll, before another length of toweling could be withdrawn from the cabinet. The present stop mechanism is associated with means by which it is automatically released after a suitable time interval, thus dispensing with. the usual pushbutton or control lever.

Referring to Figures 2, 3, 4' and The shaft 25 extends .through and beyond the plate 22 and hasfixedly secured thereto at its outer end a stop arm 13 havingat its outer end a slight projection ll cooperable with a sliding stop no to be described. 1

Mounted on the outer side of the plate 22 is a timer ll of the dashpot type having a plunger 15 provided with a head 16 which, in turn, is

secured to a lateral extension ll of a slidable stop 19. This slidable's'top 18 moves in a vertical slot '19 of the plate 22 and has an angled portion 60, see Figure 5, which is slidable in a guideway 8| formed between the inner side of the plate 22 and a plate secured thereto,'as shown. The stop "ll-Jha's a pin 82 to which one end of a link 83 is pivotally secured. The link is slotted as at 6! and 'thissl'ot is traversed by ,a pivot as slidably This is accomplished as follows: Beginning with the parts. positioned as in Figures 1 and 3: The user operates the crank to cause the arm 13 to make one complete rotation from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 4 at which the projection I4 is engaging the side of the slide 18.. During this operation, the stop arm I3 moves from its position in Figure 3 across the motion path of the slide stop 18 and when it has accomplished about half of its rotative movement, as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Figure 4, slide stop is at its limit of stop movement. Because of the slotted connection of the link with the arm, said arm. can continue to move independently of the link until it hits the side of the slide. After hitting the slide and after the operator releases the crank 68, the arm is backed off to finally assume the position shown in Figure 3, slightly spaced from the slide, The backing off means is described herebelow.

During motion of the slide to stop position, the timer is set, since the stem 15 is directly connected with the slide 18. From its position in Figure 4, the stop member 18 moves downwardly by gravity being retarded by the piston (not shown) of the timer. The slot 84 of the link allows the stop arm to move freely to the full line position of Figure 3.

The backing off means prevents the extension 14 of the arm 13 from remaining in frictional contact with the slide 18 following its impact therewith, to avoid interference with the gravity travel of the slide under the control of the timer. To this end, referring to Figures 6 and '7, there is provided a cam block 81 attached to the outer face of the gear 69. The block has a cam face indicated at 88, and the block has a rounded end portion 89 which engages with a roller 90 attached to arm 9| pivoted as at 92 to the depending plate 23. A spring 94 urges the arm 9| against the stop 95. In Figure 6, the dot-anddash line positions of the parts correspond to the position of the element 13 as shown in Figure 4, in which its extension 14 is abutting the side face of the slide 18. The full line position of the elements 81 and SI in Figure 6 correspond to the position of the element 13 shown in Figure 3, wherein this element 13 is backed off from the slide 18. The spring 94 acting through the arm 9| and cam block 81 lessens the shock of impact between the stop arm I3 and the slide stop 18.

The cam face 88 of the element 81 is elongated and is engaged by the roll, as the gear moves in the direction of the arrow during operation of the crank 66 to feed, cut and deliver a towel. This surface 88 acts to prevent a too violent and noisy snap back of the arm 9| due to the action of spring 94, after the cam 81 has passed the roller. Figure 7 shows the position of the cam during the first part of the feeding and cutting mechanism.

In preparing the cabinet for use, the door is pulled downwardly to the dot-and-dash line position of Figure l. A roll of paper is introduced and then the toweling is brought upwardly around the edge 6| between the rollers 52 and 54, through the guide throat 56, over the friction disks to a point as far as or farther than that shown in Figure 1. The attendant then operates the mechanism to cut off the first towel length, leaving the parts in the position shown in Figure 1 and ready for use by a user.

As the revolving cut-off blade 21 approaches the top of the cabinet, it engages the toweling and since the blade travels faster than the toweling is fed, it punches, cuts and tears off a length of toweling, in this instance equal to about twice the circumference of the feed roller 52. After the toweling has been cut off, the stop arm "I3 engages the slide stop 18, whereafter the timer performs its timing operation at the end of which the parts assume the position shown in Figure 3 to permit another operation by the same or another user.

We claim as our invention:

1. A paper towel dispensing apparatus comprising mechanism for feeding paper, a severing mechanism to which the paper is fed including a shaft having thereon an element having teeth, a corrugated element into the valleys of which the teeth are projected and moved, said shaft also having thereon disks providing edges for supporting and frictionally entraining the paper, means adapted to guide the fed paper to lie against and bridge said disks and bridge the peaks of said corrugations in position to be separated by said teeth, and means synchronizing the paper severing and feeding means for the purpose set forth.

2. A mechanism for dispensing paper towels having severing means including a shaft, said shaft having a stop arm, means for feeding paper to the severing means, means synchronizing the operations of the feeding and severing means, a stop movable into the motion path of the stop arm, means by which the stop arm moves said stop to be engaged by the arm directly following a paper feeding and severing operation, and means in part controlled by said shaft and acting to lessen the shock of impact of said arm with said stop and thereafter reverse the direction of motion of the arm and move it to a position spaced from said stop.

3. A mechanism for dispensing paper towels having severing means, including a shaft, said shaft having a stop arm, means for feeding paper to the severing means, means synchronizing the operations of the feeding and severing means, a stop movable into the motion path of the stop arm, means by which the stop arm moves said stop to be engaged by the arm directly following a paper feeding and severing operation, and means including a cam controlled by said shaft. and an arm yieldably urged against said cam, said means acting to lessen the shock of impact of said arm with said stop and thereafter reverse the direction of motion of the arm and move it to a position spaced from said stop.

4. A mechanism for dispensing paper towels having severing means including a shaft having thereon a gear wheel, said shaft also having a stop arm, means for feeding paper to the severing means, means synchronizing the operations of the feeding and severing means, including said gear wheel, a sliding stop movable into the motion path of the stop arm, means by which the stop arm moves the slide to be engaged by the arm directly following a paper feeding and severing operation, and means in part carried by said gear and acting to lessen the shock of impact of said arm with said slide and thereafter reverse the direction of motion of the arm and move it to a position spaced from said stop.

5. A paper towel dispensing apparatus comprising mechanism for feeding paper, severing mechanism to which the paper is fed including a shaft having thereon disks for supporting and frictionally entraining paper to be severed and also having thereon a spur gear, a stop arm atafter reverse the direction of motion of the arm,

and move it to a position spaced from the stop.

6. A paper towel dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a door, said cabinet having mechanism for feeding papernd severing it into lengths, said feeding and severing mechanismbeing arranged in the upper part of the cabinet, and said apparatus providing a paper supply chamber belowsaid feeding and severing mechanism, and means associated with said door and acting as a guide for delivering a severed length of toweling for access from the outside of the cabinet at the lower part thereof.

7. A paper towel dispensing apparatus, comprising a cabinet having in its upper part mechanisms for feeding paper and automatically severing it into lengths, a space in the bottom of the cabinet for receiving a supply roll of toweling, said cabinet having a delivery opening arranged at its bottom, and means by which the severed length of toweling is so delivered that its lower portion is accessible through said opening.

8. A mechanism for dispensing paper-towels having, a feeding mechanism, a severing mechanism. comprising spaced disks anda toothed severing element bridging and movable with the disks and extending beyond their periphery, a stationary element with which the toothed element cooperates to sever the paper, means for guiding the paper upwardly from the feeding means to be delivered upon and bridge the uppermost edges of the disks for passage between the disks and .the stationary element, and a downwardly leading delivery chuteinto which the paper is deliveredfrom the disks .andthrough which the severed sheet moves for access to the a user, and means for synchronizing the feeding and severing means.

9. A mechanism fordispensing paper towels having, a feeding mechanism, a severing mechanism, a stop arm operable by one of saidmecha- 10 8 means for feeding pap r to the severing means, means synchronizing the operations of the feeding and severing means, a stop movable into the motion pathfof the stop arm, means by which said stop is automatically moved to be en- 16 gaged by the arm directly following a paper feeding and severing operation, and means in part controlled by one of said mechanisms and seting after the arm has engaged the stop to reverse the direction of motion of the arm and-2o move it to a position slightly spaced from the stop.

10. A mechanism for dispensing paper towels having a feeding mechanism, a severing mechanism, a stop arm operable by one of said mech- 25 'anisms, means for feeding paper to the severing means, means synchronizingthe operations of the feeding and severing means, a stop movable into the motion path of the stop'arm. timing mechanism adapted to be set and released for timing when said stop so moves, means by which said step isautomatically moved to be engaged by the arm directly following a paper feeding and severing operation, and means in'part controlled by one of the mechanisms and acting after the 5 arm has engaged the stop to reverse the direction of motion of the arm and move it to a position slightly spaced from the stop.

RUDOLPH a. IBIRR. ALBERT c. ommwsm. 

